I listened to Steve Martin read his autobiography via audiobook. It was really very interesting, and an insightful look at how he agonized over his stand-up to the point where he always had anxiety attacks and his hair turned grey.

The book ends at the point where he makes The Jerk.

I demand a sequel where the same guy explains how the hell he turned into a dumbass making shiatty remakes and pathetic family films.

Dwight_Yeast:Fano: This goddamn it. The cartoon was just a wraparound and ended up as an adversary for a cartoon Clouseau, and perhaps and ant. When he wasn't hawking fiberglass insulation.

Remind me again: how in the fark did the ant figure into things?

/Pink Panther cartoons were one of the few I couldn't stand as a kid//loved the movies; they're live-action cartoons, especially the later ones.

One of the Pink Panther's pals, in a pathetic attempt to create a cartoon universe like Disney, Warner Brothers, or even the Woody Woodpecker milieu. It came across as pathetic as Itchy and Scratchy backup characters.

Dwight_Yeast:Remind me again: how in the fark did the ant figure into things?

The Ant and the Aardvark were a series of shorts done by DePatie-Freling, the same folks who did the Pink Panther animation... when they put the animated Pink Panther and the Inspector on Saturday morning cartoons, the Ant and the Aardvark (both voiced by John Byner) were put in the rotation. There were only 17 or 18 to start with; I think they did a few more for the Saturday cartoon.

Fano:One of the Pink Panther's pals, in a pathetic attempt to create a cartoon universe like Disney, Warner Brothers, or even the Woody Woodpecker milieu. It came across as pathetic as Itchy and Scratchy backup characters.

Dwight_Yeast:Fano: One of the Pink Panther's pals, in a pathetic attempt to create a cartoon universe like Disney, Warner Brothers, or even the Woody Woodpecker milieu. It came across as pathetic as Itchy and Scratchy backup characters.

I had completely block the anteater from my mind.

The cartoons were just so shiat-tacular.

Wow, me too. Didn't know what was being referred to until pics were posted.

IIRC, Peter Sellers was pretty much a dick actor that stole the show(not by talent, by pure dickishness), so he deserved to have Martin tromp on the character(And Steve Martin is awesome, regardless of bad roles/movies).

/Brilliant as he was in Dr. Strangelove....//Kinda how a lot of people view Mel Gibson now.

omeganuepsilon:IIRC, Peter Sellers was pretty much a dick actor that stole the show(not by talent, by pure dickishness)

Sellers was famously a dick to a lot of people, but apparently Blake Edwards wasn't one of them. He chose to work with Sellers on a number of films, including The Party, which you should watch if you haven't seen it.

In fact, Edwards had more abusive things to say about Sellers because Sellers died in the middle of production on a Pink Panther film than he had to say about Sellers' behavior.

/I'm not annoyed by the fact that Sellers wasted the last decade of his life chasing paychecks rather than making good films

Dwight_Yeast:The Party, which you should watch if you haven't seen it.

Yeah, that was alright, I suppose, for it's time.

Dwight_Yeast:omeganuepsilon: IIRC, Peter Sellers was pretty much a dick actor that stole the show(not by talent, by pure dickishness)

Sellers was famously a dick to a lot of people, but apparently Blake Edwards wasn't one of them.

Maybe it was they was he sort of took creative control over the character that left me with that impression(the movie was supposed to have him as a biatcharacter and he sort of turned it around), or the great(fascinating if nothing else) movie where Sellers was played by Geoffry Rush, taking liberties with actual events that's influencing what I remember. Can't be bothered to go back and watch everything and learn the behind the scenes stuff again, however. You're probably right as a quick google doesn't reveal anything.

Like I said, IIRC. I didn't find much else Sellers did that great(fine in it's own right, sure, but nothing quite so everlasting as learning to love the bomb... I'm glad he refused to play Buck though(as id did learn from the wiki). Scott owned that.

Confabulat:I listened to Steve Martin read his autobiography via audiobook. It was really very interesting, and an insightful look at how he agonized over his stand-up to the point where he always had anxiety attacks and his hair turned grey.

The book ends at the point where he makes The Jerk.

I demand a sequel where the same guy explains how the hell he turned into a dumbass making shiatty remakes and pathetic family films.

The cartoons are miles ahead of the movies. The movies are dumb as fark.

The cartoons are actually endearing and clever.

And, yeah, Aardvark was cheesy, but nothing is as terrible as Crazylegs Crane and the Dragon Fly.

I've just never liked the "Predator and Prey" cartoons where the prey ends up beating the predator all the time. Not even Coyote and Road Runner or Sylvester and Tweety. That's probably the worst archetype of cartoons in the history of the world.

omeganuepsilon:Maybe it was they was he sort of took creative control over the character that left me with that impression(the movie was supposed to have him as a biatcharacter and he sort of turned it around), or the great(fascinating if nothing else) movie where Sellers was played by Geoffry Rush, taking liberties with actual events that's influencing what I remember. Can't be bothered to go back and watch everything and learn the behind the scenes stuff again, however. You're probably right as a quick google doesn't reveal anything.

The book the Geoffrey Rush movie was based on, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers is both excellent and depressing.

Basically, if a director didn't direct Sellers, Sellers took over the character and sometimes the film. Blake Edwards knew how to work with Sellers. As did Stanley Kubrick, who actually wanted Sellers to play Maj "King" Kong as well as the other roles he was already doing; Sellers apparently either got cold feet or couldn't do a Texas accent, as he "broke his leg" and couldn't get into the bomber set.

Even Hal Ashby, who had a reputation as being completely laid-back as a director was able not only to work with Sellers but to get what may have been his best performance: Chance, the Gardner in Being There. The only negative thing I've heard about that film was that Sellers was an ass to Shirley McLaine, but many male actors have underestimated her talents and written her off as a loon.

LonMead:Dwight_Yeast: Remind me again: how in the fark did the ant figure into things?

[static.tvtropes.org image 271x205]The Ant and the Aardvark were a series of shorts done by DePatie-Freling, the same folks who did the Pink Panther animation... when they put the animated Pink Panther and the Inspector on Saturday morning cartoons, the Ant and the Aardvark (both voiced by John Byner) were put in the rotation. There were only 17 or 18 to start with; I think they did a few more for the Saturday cartoon.

I'd be OK with that. Hell, I'm OK with a Pink Panther cartoon movie, but they are not equal to Inspector Clouseau movies

// I believe everything and I believe nothing. I suspect everyone and I suspect no one.

....I liked the Martin Panther movies, especially the second one with John Cleese as Inspector Dreyfus, and most of the Sellers movies are hysterically funny - but honestly, the best parts of any of them are the animated credits.

Dwight_Yeast:omeganuepsilon: IIRC, Peter Sellers was pretty much a dick actor that stole the show(not by talent, by pure dickishness)

Sellers was famously a dick to a lot of people, but apparently Blake Edwards wasn't one of them. He chose to work with Sellers on a number of films, including The Party, which you should watch if you haven't seen it.

In fact, Edwards had more abusive things to say about Sellers because Sellers died in the middle of production on a Pink Panther film than he had to say about Sellers' behavior.

/I'm not annoyed by the fact that Sellers wasted the last decade of his life chasing paychecks rather than making good films

IIRC Edwards and Sellers had a very strong love/hate relationship. Immediately after "The Pink Panther," Sellers was also shooting "A Shot in the Dark" (which was NOT originally supposed to be a Clouseau film). Sellers hated the director so much that he got him fired and brought Blake Edwards aboard, and really it was that movie that set the stage for the rest of the Pink Panther films.Funny thing was, after that film Edwards and Sellers swore they'd never work together again until years later when they decided to revive the Pink Panther and the rest is history. (Can't remember if it was Blake who came after Sellers, or the studio came after both of them. Or maybe Sellers was the one behind it all, but I doubt that.).

"How can a blind man be a lookout?""HOW CAN AN fancy lad BE A POLICEMAN?""Well, it's quite simple; all he has to do is enlist--"

The best, Sadly, they seem to play that one the least.

(A beggar sits in front of a bank playing an accordian. There is a monkey sitting next to him as Inspector Clouseau walks up.)

Clouseau: Do you have a license?Beggar: What? Clouseau: City ordinance 147-B prohibits the playing of any musical instrument in a public place for the purpose of commercial enterprize without a proper license.

Beggar: I don't understand.

Clouseau: It is against the leu (law) for you to play your musical instrument.

Beggar: Leu?

Clouseau: What?

Beggar: You say, it's against the leu?

Clouseau: Yes. Unless you have a proper license.

Beggar: What kind of license?

Clouseau: A license that permits the playing of any musical instrument in a public place for the purpose of commercial enterprize.

Beggar: Commercial enterprize?

Clouseau: Yes. You play that thing and people give you the muhnay.

Beggar: People give the monkey the money.

Clouseau: It is the same.

Beggar: Oh, no. I am a musician and the monkey is a businessman. He doesn't tell me what to play, and I don't tel him what to do with his money. (Through the window of the bank, you can see that it is being robbed. One day I came home and I found him sitting in my living room. I let him stay, but he pays for his own room and board.

Clouseau: Then the minkey's breaking the leu.

Beggar: But he doesn't play any musical instrument.

Clouseau: City ordinance 132-R prohibits the begging.

Beggar: How do you know so much about city ordinances?

Clouseau: What sort of stupid question is that? Are you blind?

Beggar: Yes.

Dreyfuss: fancy lad!

Clouseau: How was I to know he was the bank manager?

Dreyfuss: (Sarcastic) How were you to know the bank was being robbed?

Clouseau: That is correct. Dreyfuss: What is correct?

Clouseau: I did not know the bank was being robbed because I was engaged in my sworn duty as a police officer.

Dreyfuss: You didn't even arrest the old beggar.

Clouseau: There was some question as to whether the beggar or his minkey was breaking the leu (law).

Dreyfuss: 'Minkey'?

Clouseau: What?

Dreyfuss: You said 'minkey'!

Clouseau: That is correct, yes. Chimpanzee minkey. So I let them both off with a warning.

Dreyfuss: The beggar was the lookout man for the gang!

Clouseau: That is impossible.

Dreyfuss: Why?

Clouseau: He was blind. How can a blind man be a lookout?

Dreyfuss: How can an fancy lad be a policeman? Answer me that!

Clouseau: It's very simple. All he has to do is enlist--

Dreyfuss: Shut up! How do you know he was blind?

Clouseau: He told me so.

Dreyfuss: He told you so? And you believed him?

Clouseau: I had no reason to doubt him.

Dreyfuss: (Laughs) Would you believe me if I told you that I am not having you suspended for six months? Do you believe me?

Clouseau: If you say so, sir, yes.

Dreyfuss: Because I am a bigger liar than the beggar. You are suspended for six months, without pay!